■ SCREENSHOT 3. This little piece
of code isn't exactly a program, but
it is just enough to display the
message you see in Screenshot 4
on my Galaxy Tab.

World” thing just yet. I’m anxious
to see something on the Android
device’s display that I can touch
and see something happen. Once
we do that, the application ideas
will form all by themselves. Let’s
do some work on that Msgbox
code and see what happens when
we punch and twist some of the
Basic4android’s buttons and
knobs.

The first order of business is to
make sure that we have the
correct driver for the Android
device we wish to use in the app
development process. Obviously, I
have already done that. If your
Android device is giving you fits
and won’t “connect” to the
Basic4android IDE, you will have
to go through an install or update
driver process. One great thing
about Android is the support level.
The Android Developer’s site has
an intense section that walks you
through getting the Google USB
driver package and installing
drivers. In the case of my HTC Eris,
I came across an Android
developer that was a keeper of the
flame. He provided the USB VID
and PID information for my Eris.
The Android USB VID and PID
information for supported Android
phones and devices is found
within an Android SDK file called android_winusb.inf.

Here’s the HTC Eris information that I added to the
android_winusb.inf file:

■ SCREENSHOT 4. The Android Msgbox code works just like its Visual Basic cousin.

Screenshot 3 results in what you see in Screenshot 4.

THE IMPORTANT STUFF

When you really get down to it, the coding is
secondary to the look and feel. So, let’s not do that “Hello